Two famous bikinis are included in the exhibition: the white bikini worn by Ursula Andress as she emerged from the sea in Dr No, and Halle Berry's orange two-piece from Die Another Day.

Men's swimwear also makes an appearance with Daniel Craig's tight blue trunks from Casino Royale, and a recreation of Sir Sean Connery's shorts as worn in Thunderball.

The shark exhibit Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

Oscar-winning costume designer and co-curator Lindy Hemming, who has worked on numerous Hollywood hits, said she had aimed to give visitors "the feel of being in a Bond film".

We have entered the archives which EON have collected over the years and we have tried to take pieces, interesting objects which would help us to understand design in films and the objects range from gadgets, clothing, jewellery, wonderful drawings of sets and models of sets and artwork ... Bond films have been responsible for the British film industry working constantly over the years when there were other lulls and therefore kept many technicians in employment.

– Lindy Hemming, exhibition co-curator

A model of Shirley Eaton as famous Bond girl Jill Masterson painted gold from the film Goldfinger Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

A number of Bond villains play a starring role in the exhibition which showcases Scaramanga's golden gun, Oddjob's deadly bowler hat and Rosa Klebb's flick-knife shoes from From Russia With Love.

Ian Fleming, the author and former MI6 employee who invented 007, also forms an integral part of the exhibition. The late Mr Fleming based many stories and character traits on his own experiences, knowledge and friends.

The exhibition has 14 themed areas including a recreation of spymaster M's office, a look at the recurring importance of casinos in Bond films and an "ice palace" evoking Bond's various adventures in colder climbs. It concludes with a Martini Bar.

Barbican employee looks at a photograph of the character Jaws, played by Richard Kiel in James Bond film's Spy Who Loved Me Credit: Lewis Whyld/PA Wire

'Designing 007: 50 years of Bond Style' opens at the Barbican Centre in London. Part of the show will tour internationally when the exhibition closes in September. Further details are available here.